Spring on the Sea Air
by Bad Luck Bree
Summary: Another short Bravy fic celebrating spring time. Oh, a bit of Clayliness as well.


Spring on the Sea Air

Bree sat in the hold, her legs crossed. She was watching two of the _Dutchman_'s crew, Koleniko and Clanker, playing at Liar's Dice. They had both been going for a while, as both were very good. Bree wondered if the game would end. Surely they were running out of dice by now.

Bree glanced up to see Caylie, Davy Jones' niece, standing behind Koleniko. Bree noticed her making signs to Clanker. Bree grinned. No wonder Clanker had suddenly started to win.

Bree soon grew bored watching the game. She stood, preparing to go up on deck. The sun was out and the air was considerably warmer, even if it still carried a hint of winter.

The young female pirate was almost swept off her feet as two of the crew, Oglivey and Hadras, came bustling in, both yelling at each other. Hadras was babbling on like the idiot that he was, and Oglivey was calling him such. Bree, as she was in a somewhat higher position due to being the captain's wife, got between them, speaking in an authoritative voice, "Oi, now, what's all this?"

The two began explaining at the same time, and Bree held up her hands, "Quiet!" She pointed to Hadras, "Ye first."

Hadras began, "Well, Miss Bree, I saw a robin! I saw de first robin o' spring!"

Oglivey cut in, "Ye wouldn't find a robin this far out at sea, ye dimwit! It were a seabird!"

Hadras burst into tears, "No! It was a robin! I seen it first!"

Bree got in between them again, "Hold on, now! Stop that blubberin', Master Hadras!"

Hadras sniffed, rubbing his nose, "But I saw it, Miss Bree!"

Bree put her hand on his shoulder, "Mate, robins don't live out on the water. Ye saw a seabird."

Hadras just shed fresh tears, "Nobody believes me!"

Bree knew that Hadras would forget all about this incident in a few minutes. She patted his shoulder, "Why don't ye go lie down, mate."

Hadras went off, still sniffling. Bree turned to Oglivey, "Go about yer duties, mate." Oglivey saluted and moved away.

The incident had drawn attention. Caylie came up to stand beside Bree, "Mate…Hadras was right, ye know."

Bree turned to look at her niece as if she were mad, "Hadras? Right about somethin'? Are ye goin' stupid in th' brain, mate?"

Caylie shook her head, "No, I mean about it bein' spring. It's easy to tell in the air."

Bree nodded, "Aye…so?"

Caylie elbowed Bree in a chummy way, "Aw, ye're gettin' as hardened as these ol' crustyhearts. Why not have some fun? When I was younger, I'd see spring parties. People'd dress in bright colors…dance, sing, eat…it looked fun."

Bree raised her eyebrow at her friend, "Bright colors…a spring party, on the _Dutchman_?"

Caylie pointed to the pink, shell-studded blanket that hung near her hammock, "Jones let me keep that up, didn't 'e? Ye told me he let ye have a Christmas party once. Besides…" She winked, "I'm sure ye could…_convince_ 'im, aye?"

Bree chuckled, "Ye're as bad as me, mate. All right, I'll ask 'im."

"Bree, don't even _think_ ye'll be gettin' somethin' like this!"

Bree crossed her arms, blowing an exasperated sigh, "Oh, ye're bein' silly, Davy."

Davy Jones turned, his face stern, "Bree…I let ye have a Christmas celebration. Every holiday, don't expect me to let ye turn a ghost ship into a tub o' party creatures!"

Bree drew closer to him, putting on a pout, "But it weren't my idea! It was Caylie's!"

Jones shook his head, "Ye can tell Caylie no."

Bree adjusted Jones' coat front, looking up at him, "Ol' grumpy guts, isn't it? Why not?"

Jones took a while to answer, as he was distracted by Bree's hands moving up to his beard of tentacles, "Bree, it ain't gonna work. Ye did this last time, an'…an'…" Her palm was on his cheek.

Bree stood up on her tiptoes, pouting again, "Ye wouldn't disappoint yer own niece, would ye, Davy?"

Jones averted his eyes. He loved it when she called him Davy. Ah, she was getting too good at this.

"Fine! Fine, have a bloody spring festival! But I'm puttin' ye in charge of makin' sure no passin' ship sees it!"

Bree scoffed, "What ship would even dare get near th' _Flying Dutchman_?" She stood on tiptoe, pulling Jones' head down and kissing him. "Thank ye, love."

She turned to go tell Caylie, but felt Jones pulling her back. Jones grinned down at her, "What? Is that all the thanks I get?" He pulled her to him and kissed her again.

Bree emerged from the cabin later, only to find Caylie waiting for her. Caylie stood up, "Took ye long enough. What'd he say?"

Bree grinned, "Got th' old crusty villain to agree. We've got ourselves a party to plan."

In a few hours, the _Dutchman_ looked like a different ship. Bree had found an old chest one of the crew had been hoarding. After asking permission from its owner, the girls looked through the contents. It was filled with clothing, some men's, some women's. Several dresses were in it, along with some frock coats. The girls set to work tearing the cloth into strips, braiding different colors together and making decorations. They hung it all about the ship, making the barnacle, sea creature crusted vessel look somewhat bright. They even made some ribbons to thread through their braids.

At last, the preparations were done. Bree and Caylie had chosen a few songs they would perform, Bree on the fiddle and Caylie singing, as she had a wonderful voice.

That afternoon, all the crew gathered on the deck, wondering how the girls would go about this. They didn't know what to expect, but were all of them, Jimmylegs and Jones included, looking forward to it. They weren't disappointed.

There were makeshift tables set up where the crew were sitting, probably for the drinks that Bree and Caylie would bring out once they appeared. And appear they did, most spectacularly.

Caylie came in first, wearing a light lavender shirt, ribbons wrapped around her arms and waist. She was practically skipping with excitement as she came in. Jones admired her. He had a beautiful niece.

Then came Bree, skipping in as well. She was wearing a light blue shirt, ribbons wound around her also, her braids interwoven with bright orange and green. The entire scene looked comical, as was intended, as the two girls entered, both carrying two bottles of fine rum they had stolen off a naval frigate two weeks earlier. They went around to each crewmember, pouring them drinks.

The next few minutes were spent drinking and talking, sharing the general camaraderie. Bree and Caylie were sitting off at a separate table, whispering together.

But before either of them could carry out whatever they had planned out to do next, Koleniko and Crash stood up, producing wooden swords. They both whispered for a moment, then Koleniko called out, "Master Crash an' myself will challenge any man! I for the favor o' Miss Caylie, an' Crash for the favor o' Miss Bree!"

Laugher rose, and Clanker was the first to call out, "I accept Master Koleniko's challenge!"

Koleniko winked at Clanker knowingly, tossing him a wooden sword, "Then ye shall have to fight bloody hard, mate!" As Clanker passed him, Koleniko said, "Don't hit too hard. I promise I'll let ye win."

Crash called out now, "An' I'll fight for the favor o' Miss Bree! What man dares t' challenge me?"

Jones rose to his full height, growling out in mock rage, "No man dares t' lay hand on me Lady Bree, Master Crash! Ye shall pay for yer impudence!" He hid a smile.

Crash tossed Jones a wooden sword, nodding in mock seriousness. The two pairs faced off, and a 'fight to the death' ensued, full of mock thrusts and fake grunts of pain or frustration. All laughed and clapped, cheering on their favorites. All the fighters were strong and tough, and Koleniko and Clanker were both evenly matched. They went back and forth, back and forth. Then Koleniko pretended to be hit, and began to falter. Soon, the fight between them was over with a fake death scene from Koleniko, who was a rather good actor. He crawled off to the side while everyone was looking at the fight between Jones and Crash.

With Jones and Crash, it wasn't even fair. Jones was a good head taller than Crash, and much stronger. He battered away at the smaller crewmember, not hitting hard but enough to actually stun Crash. Crash then took his turn at dying, falling down dramatically. Jones raised his wooden blade, and the crew all cheered, laughing uproariously.

The two victors went to their ladies, kneeling and kissing their hands. Clanker looked up at Caylie and winked, "Do I get a token, milady?"

Caylie grinned at him, bending down and kissing him quickly.

Jones was a bit more forward. He rose from his kneeling position and kissed Bree without an invitation…not that Bree minded. Cheers ensued.

Hadras, however, was horrified, "Look! Niko an' Crash are walkin'! They came back to life!"

Jimmylegs just tugged on Hadras' arm and whispered, "Shuddup."

The next activity was one Jones both groaned at and laughed at. Drawing.

Bree and Caylie had hoarded sheets of writing paper for themselves to use, and now shared them out, along with sticks of charcoal. Jones noted that they were hiding the paint for their own use.

Bree approached Jones, handing him some paper and a charcoal stick. Jones scoffed, "Bree, I can't draw."

Bree scoffed back, "Niether can Hadras. It ain't stoppin' 'im!"

Jones took the drawing supplies grumpily and sat down, setting them in front of him as Bree moved off. He simply stared down at the blank paper for a long while, not intending to draw anything. He then began looking around at the others.

Jimmylegs was currently drawing a picture of himself, thought not very accurate, flogging some unfortunate soul. A good thing he didn't have colors, Jones thought.

Koleniko was drawing a picture of a beautiful young woman with long red hair. Underneath he wrote in wobbly letter 'Kitty'. He was a good artist, and had a dreamy look in his eyes as he drew.

Hadras was _attempting _to draw a stick figure with some form of a beard. He was explaining to whoever would listen, "It's a Saxon! I think I'm gonna name 'im…Cerdic…"

Clanker was a fairly good artist himself. He was drawing sketchy renditions of himself, Caylie, Bree, Hadras and Koleniko all eating bones'n'bread sandwiches, even though neither of the girls, or Hadras or Koleniko for that matter, were fond of the strange food.

Maccus was drawing a ship, and a rather good one, too. It was being fired on, and the first mate was finishing filling in the attacking ship.

Wheelback was drawing…a chicken…

Greenbeard was drawing…Jones couldn't tell _what_ he was drawing.

Bootstrap was a surprisingly good artist. He was drawing a picture of a young woman, probably his wife of long ago. He looked at it with loving eyes as he wrote the name 'Audrey'.

The rest of the crew were all drawing various things, be it their own interests or requests from other mates.

Now came the two girls. Caylie was drawing a picture of Clanker, following a few instructions from Bree, who was pointing to Clanker. Clanker obviously noted that one of them was drawing him, so he began striking noble poses, though they looked quite comical.

Bree herself was drawing several things. On one of her sheets, she was drawing a horse. It was beautiful, with a perfectly arched neck, a flowing mane, rippling muscles…it was beautiful. Bree was a good artist, though some of her work looked a bit unrealistic.

But her second drawing was of Jones himself. It was stunningly realistic. All the majesty and power of the man of the sea was evident in the drawing. The eyes looked so realistic, one would have thought they were really there. But Bree, though the depiction was not smiling, had given Jones an air of mysterious…attractiveness. That was because she was drawing him as she saw him.

However, her third drawing was quite different. She and Caylie were sharing this one. Caylie was better at painting. Bree had drawn the outline of a rabbit, and Caylie, just out of a silly impulse, mixed some pink paint and began painting in the rabbit.

Jones looked down at his own paper. He picked up the charcoal stick in his good hand and looked at it. Hmm…

Jones began sketching, trying to keep the paper still with his claw. A picture began to evolve. Good…good…a little bit of shading here…some blurring there…

The picture was done in a while. Jones surveyed it. It was perfect. He smiled down at it.

It was time for the pictures to all be hung up to be viewed. A few of the crew were a bit bashful, but they handed their artwork over. Jones, however, folded his paper and stuffed it into his coat pocket.

Once all the drawings were hung up, it was time to view them all. The crew had a good time pointing out what paintings they thought belonged to who and so on.

But Hadras suddenly began yelling out something in utter terror. Everyone looked startled as the crewmember threw himself at Clanker, his close friend, and began babbling out something. Clanker managed to get him under control, "Mate, what is it?"

Hadras pointed to the third picture that Caylie and Bree had done, "_It's a pink bunny!"_

The crew erupted into hysterical laughter.

Bree was able to calm Hadras, turning him by the shoulders, "Look, mate!"

Hadras' face changed from terror to childish joy as he looked at what Bree had pointed out. Bree's face reflected Hadras' joy as she spoke, "A robin!"

How had it gotten so far out at sea?

_Who cares?_ Bree thought.

The day ended with music from Bree and Caylie. The two performed a lively air, Bree playing the music and Caylie singing in her beautiful voice. Then the dancing began, all the men sharing the two girls as dance partners. Jones even allowed himself a dance with Bree, and then one with Caylie. He had to admit…he was enjoying this.

Then the evening ended. The crew went off to their hammocks, and Caylie to her own private area of the hold. Bree entered Jones' cabin, yawning and pulling ribbons out of her braids.

"Leave 'em in…I like 'em."

Bree turned at the sound of the door closing. Jones leaned back, watching her. He smiled at her, "I must say, I didn't expect anythin' like today."

Bree grinned up at him, "I told ye we could do it!"

Jones came forward, nodding, "Aye, ye surprised me."

Bree kissed him, then pulled away saying, "Ye never gave us a picture to hang up. Chickened out?"

Jones fidgeted at his coat pocket, "Well…I _did_ one, but…it ain't that good…"

Bree was on him like a flash, undoing his coat and grabbing the piece of folded up paper from his pocket, "Ha! I knew it!"

She ran to the opposite corner and unfolded the paper. Jones cringed, awaiting her opinion.

Bree stared at the picture, speechless. There, on the paper, was her likeness, as well as Caylie's. The two girls were standing together on the bowsprits of the _Dutchman_, smiling and laughing together, clasping hands. Every detail was perfect, the likenesses uncanny.

Bree looked up at Jones, her eyes as big as her mouth was wide, "How…how…how did ye hide yer artistic talent?"

Jones felt heat creeping to his face, "Oh, er…I didn't think I was an artist…"

Bree came towards him, "I've never seen anythin' this marvelous! It's amazin'!"

Jones felt pleased. He hoped he wasn't blushing, "Thank ye, Bree…" He reached out and touched her cheek, "Ye're amazin' as well…ye an' Caylie…ye can do things no one else can."


End file.
